Brooklyn man, a friendly face in the neighborhood, shot dead

Police are investigating the early Saturday morning shooting death of a 65-year-old homeless man who was a welcomed presence in Clinton Hill, his Brooklyn neighborhood.

The real estate website Brownstoner reported "with a heavy heart" the death of Gilbert Kelly, the "self-appointed steward of the block."

"Many of us paid him a small monthly stipend to keep our stoops clean, make sure our recycling was sported correctly and let us know if any suspicious characters had been lurking around our homes," the Brownstoner post read.

Kelly was found unconscious with a bullet wound to the chest around 4:20 a.m. in front of 424 Grand Ave. near Gates Avenue in Clinton Hill, according to the NYPD. EMS took him to Brooklyn Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Kelly had an extensive history with drugs, having spent six years in prison on a felony drug charge in the 1990s, according to a 2011 profile in The New York Times. The NYPD said he had been arrested more than 20 times, mostly over narcotics, between 1986 and 2013.